System Failure !

harz99

Buddleia is like Privet hedging, chop it back as hard as you like and it'll look terrible until next spring, then lo and behold new shoots will soon turn into new branches and fronds over the spring/summer period

doingitanyway

Well done for tackling the buddleia
A soda stream is a great idea. Frugalwoods uses one to create healthier fizzy drinks. Very MSE

another_casualty

Thanks harz &dia 😼
Regarding the Buddleia , for some bizarre reason I like the look of it now . All wood .
Im not sure if I got the right saw for the job, but it is similar to the one , one of the 4 " gardeners " were using tidying it up.  

In my last garden , I used cordless hedge trimmers which were a pita for the ltd usage after charging . Cheap and effective when it decided I could use it longer than 10 or so mins . My plan is to trim it down to the desired height and keep it there . In theory the " gardeners " should have very little to do to it . 

Looking at the soda stream scenario now . Reviews mixed to say the least . 

For many years, I just use to buy big bottles of lucozade ( many ) , Perrier and sometimes cola etc. Then I managed to get off lucozade altogether a few years back.
I went on binges  of curiosity cola until last Christmas . The headaches told me to stop,
When I buy fizzy water now , it is mainly Waitrose own brand in packs of 6-8 small bottles or small bottles of Perrier if on Ocado . It's almost impossible to get glass bottles , and I want to do my bit for the animals . Now Boris Thunberg is going to tax us for something that the supermarkets invented . They should make everything glass now imho
As for cost, it may be cheaper to buy the supermarket stuff but there's not much in it .
We'll see . 

I want to get sasparilla but nothing around here . Amazon do multipack of 1 litre bottles 
I Dunno . I don't want to do the next online shop and be told out of stock when my delivery did come .

May be meeting up with local friend tomorrow / sat ☕️

I'll leave it there ..🌞

jwil

I love refreshers!  The only place I've seen them in recent years is Asda.

MrsPorridge

AC, I can recommend Wrights cake kits - don't be put off by the fact that they say you can use a breadmaker.  You don't need too.  The ginger one is lovely, I make that as a Victoria sandwich and use ginger curd as the filling.

another_casualty

Thank you @jwil and mrs p 😼
When I saw wrights mentioned , I was somehow thinking of coal tar soap .
I'll take your tip mrs p , and lookout for it . 

It'll be interesting to see what turns up from Waitrose tomorrow morning . I ordered a few packs of whatever . 

Things to make in the not too distant ..pancakes and Yorkshire pud . 

Speaking of food ( again 😸) , I have avoided ordering crisps this time around .
Having said that , I now put French fries 🍟 into halogen oven and just cook with salt and pepper .  Tomorrow , I should ( if they are not out of stock ) be getting king edwards spuds
I'll try doing fries / roast spuds from them . I have a mandolin ( which cut my fingers a while back ) which could make crisps 

On other things , I haven't had to put the central heating on today so far .
Looks like the draught excluder is doing its job .

Regarding the muscle / stomach pain , it is still there but not as bad . 

Regarding my condition , I'm only supposed to be doing light exercise as and when
Mr trainer 🏋️‍♂️told me I'm actually doing full on hardcore workouts . Reasons to be cheerful

I'll leave it there ..🌞 

doingitanyway

Ginger curd as a filling for a Victoria sponge is genius @MrsPorridge

Reading your post @another_casualty reminded me that I used to love Perrier water.

Hope your stomach improves.

another_casualty

It's Monday morning . The sun is shining ..with rain 🌞⛈ 
The rib / muscular pain is a lot less than it was.
I haven't done any workouts since my last session with mr trainer 🏋️‍♂️On weds
That has probably helped . I will try something later on this morning . 

I did some more washing in the washing machine yesterday 🧺 .Thankfully, it does look like for the moment anyway the washer / dryer is not broken and that I had a lucky escape 

Never met friend over weekend unfortunately ☕️, but no biggie. 

There should 3 or 4 of us meeting up on sat for a social gathering in Poole 🍺🍺

I have been doing various different ways of cooking over the  weekend .👨‍🍳
The king Edward spuds I got from Waitrose on Friday were in better condition than some of the potatoes ordered over the months . It put me off . This weekend however , I've been roasting them in the halogen oven with the skin on . Yesterday , I cooked a piece of rib eye steak in there as well with garden peas . 

I also cooked Betty Crockers' chocolate fudge brownie mix . Enough to last until weds

This time next week I should have cleared overdraft, plus paid off most of credit card
The card should be cleared in nov anyway . 

I do have money in account for next payment of ground rent and service charges for my flat, which will be payable end of March. Then again in sept . 

One thing that has worried me is that Vanquis want to give me more than £3,000 limit ..if I disclose means testing etc ( my words ) . I don't want it , and hopefully will only have to use the card for short term emergencies . The overdraft is something that I hopefully can only use minimally in the future 🤞 . If all goes to plan , this new wave of cooking should make things cheaper and albeit healthier . We'll see .
I don't want to be means tested for anything again if I can help it . 

Being on universal credit obviously isn't easy , but by being careful I may not feel as bad as my name suggests 😼

I have minimal space issues in the flat these days . Having said that , I do have a carrier bag full of spare medication which apart from obvious place I don't know where to stick it 
On the medical side of things, I received letter from st Thomas's hsp advising me that my next appointment will be with the consultant or a member of his team by phone ☎️ Next October . 

It will be interesting to see how universal credit / DWP handle me with upcoming discussion and the future. I have a new DR 🧑‍⚕️Not sure who he is . Dr who..
So when I'm asked to give another fit note is when the fun starts .
Still, one thing at a time .

I'll leave it there ..⛈

another_casualty

Feeling below par today , but that won't last long ..
I just managed to do a session which mr trainer has on my program 🥵 so not all bad

I have a big tidy up of the flat again today / tomorrow. 

Yesterday I went to local bakers and purchased a fine brown loaf . Top quality
However, they run out of rolls far too quickly 🍞
This means unfortunately I have to purchase organic ones from Waitrose if I can get them in the online shop 🛒

Speakig of food . I went to the butchers and purchased some steak , bacon and steak mince.🔪 I tried eating some of the mince yesterday , but there was a spicy taste 🤮
I notice a horrible smell of onions in the butchers while I wad holding my breath 🤢
My reckoning is that the people behind the counter didn't wash their hands properly after preparing other stuff . This means that I will order mince from Waitrose or M&S if I can get it . 

Tomorrow  I will pay off the full balance on credit card . The overdraft will be cleared
I will then wait a few days and pay off the remainder of card in nov as the statement doesn't always give you the full balance etc plus I ordered a few bits on Amazon ( tools etc )  Regarding the credit card , I do have my audiobook monthly payment on there , plus Amazon prime ..and a printer ink refill bill of £1.99 per month
I was under the impression that it is best to have something albeit small to use your credit card to improve your credit rating. I stand to be corrected of course .
I may transfer those payments to the current account instead . 

Speaking of credit cards , apparently lenders have reduced  limits  for many people on high incomes and low incomes without warning . In my situation as I mentioned a while back , my provider wants to increase mine subject to checks etc . When I want an increase I wouldn't get it . I'm hoping I'm left alone , and I'm hoping to only use in emergencies only 

The nhs are playing games of text with me over the last week or so📱
I'm getting reminders at various times of the day and night to book jabs etc 🥊
The thing is , the latest reminder I have is telling me all surgeries are fully booked till December . While I am typing this there is another text waiting to be looked at ..
Regarding the flu jab..I've never had it / don't want it ( yes I know about immune system but I did ok last year) .
Regarding jab no 3🥊🥊🥊..initially 2 were enough . I'm not too bothered tbh 
The other thing ; the last 2 visits to the surgery 5hat did the jabs was expensive in a cab🚕
There is a surgery which is about a 25 min walk each way in liliput which makes more sense to me . I'd probably be okay doing gulliver impressions there ..

It's cloudy but was damp and overcast , so a bit brighter now .
Looks showery for Saturday 🌧

Anyway, I'll leave it there ..☁️

another_casualty

So this morning , action had to be taken and I have cleared overdraft . Plus I paid the full amount of my latest statement from credit card co . In November , it'll be cleared again .
Speaking of this current situation , I received another warning from my bank regarding the overdraft limit . Hooefully they'll leave me alone ,and hopefully I won't have to go into it for a very long time .
I received a letter from credit card co advising me that after reviewing customer accounts on a regular basis and following an assessment , they have decided to increase m6 interest rate . Blah blah blah..increased to 35.0% APR / monthly rate 2.53%
I will now tread carefully , and again hoping to be left alone 🤞

Another text from NHS ..another message advising me that my preferred surgery is fully booked for jab no.3🥊🥊🥊. I'm advised to check daily . Ok I'll do that . 

Had a session with mr trainer this morning 🏋️‍♂️🥵. He thinks I'm losing a bit in the right places. Tbh I'm not too fussed as it looks like my new food angle may be contributing .
Slow and steady wins the race . 🐎🏇

i caught a series by accident the other day by channel hopping through the various rubbish,📺and stumbled upon a French Drama Paris Police 1900👮‍♂️👮‍♂️Just finished that .
Glad I found that 

cloudy Today , showers for weekend 

I'll leave it there ...🌧